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Updating . .
Dianne Feinstein’s husband identified as UC regent who recommended less qualified student -- Richard Blum, a wealthy investment banker and Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s husband, is the UC regent who inappropriately penned a letter that likely helped an unqualified student gain admission to UC Berkeley. Emily DeRuy in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/24/20
Coronavirus: California’s numbers keep trending in right direction -- Compared to two weeks ago, California’s hospitalizations are down 22%; ICUs down 27%, at lowest point on record. Evan Webeck in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/24/20
In a major test, Orange County schools reopen to joy, anxiety and gallons of hand sanitizer -- On Thursday morning, months of finely-curated planning will be turned into action at five Orange County school districts serving about 76,000 students as schoolyard gates open for in-person classes for the first time in six months, marking a widely watched return to school amid California’s coronavirus crisis. Stephanie Lai in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/24/20
Recent rise in COVID-19 cases threatens to slow L.A. reopening, mayor says -- With recent increases of coronavirus cases in Los Angeles County after nearly a month of decline, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said the next few weeks will be crucial if the city wants to see more reopenings. “The bottom line: This virus is still here, and it’s still very dangerous,” said Garcetti, noting the uptick in hospitalizations, cases and the transmission rate in L.A. County. Dakota Smith, Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ David Rosenfeld in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/24/20
Anti-vaccine group aided effort to overturn COVID order in county where health officer quit -- As the Placer County Board of Supervisors was meeting Sept. 8 to discuss rescinding its emergency COVID-19 order, a California anti-vaccine group that’s promoted inaccurate coronavirus information online was rallying their followers – some from outside the county – to call in support for the effort. Hannah Wiley in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/24/20
New jobless claims stay steady as California faces unemployment ‘reset’ -- Another 870,000 Americans sought new unemployment benefits last week, as the pandemic’s economic impacts continued to spread pain. More than 230,000 claims were in California, which now has stopped accepting new applications for two weeks while it revamps a struggling benefits system. Chase DiFeliciantonio and Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
Knott’s Berry Farm frustrated with lack of California theme park reopening plans: ‘We’re ready to open’ -- 'Every time we ask them, "Can you help us understand what's going on here and why we can't open?" They just keep saying to us, "Well, you're different,"' says Cedar Fair regional vice president Raffi Kaprelyan. Brady MacDonald in the Orange County Register -- 9/24/20
Climate
Dire consequences for California if climate change unaddressed, report warns -- More than 500,000 Californians could die prematurely and the state could lose $4.5 trillion in the next 50 years if rising climate temperatures go unchecked, a new congressional report warns. Tal Kopan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
Bay Area officials have a plan to combat climate change: force people to work from home -- In the face of protests from San Francisco officials and advocates of public transit, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission on Wednesday moved forward with a plan to keep many of the region’s workers at home — with climate change, not the coronavirus pandemic, as the rationale. Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
Californians divided on party lines about climate change’s role in fires, poll finds -- Reeling from the worst fire season in California’s history, 3 in 4 state voters say wildfires pose a greater threat today than ever before, yet they are divided sharply along party lines about what role climate change plays in the infernos, according to a new poll. Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/24/20
Spread of the Bobcat fire slows dramatically as some residents return home -- Fire officials announced continued success in the fight against the massive Bobcat fire, with U.S. Forest Service officials reporting the blaze is 50% contained. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ Alma Fausto in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/24/20
‘Lemonade out of lemons’: Distillery turns smoke-tainted wine grapes into purposefully smoky grappa -- Grapes that are damaged by smoke taint might not make a very good wine. But what if there were another use for them? What if, for example, the smoke-tainted grapes could be turned into grappa? Esther Mobley in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
Water
Gov. Newsom told this California town they’d get safe drinking water. It’s been a year -- It’s been four years since safe drinking water flowed from the tap at Jovita Torres-Romo’s home. When the well at her rental house went dry in 2016, the only running water available to her family came through a hose stretched across the street from a neighbor’s house. Dayana Jiselle and Monica Vaughan in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/24/20
Elections
California Rep. Katie Porter was a prime GOP election target, but she’s not breaking a sweat -- Not all of California’s contested congressional races are created equal, as one Orange County Democrat is showing. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
California will vote again on rent control. What makes Proposition 21 different? -- Two years after California voters soundly rejected an initiative to roll back state limits on rent control, supporters are trying again with a scaled-back approach that they hope will resonate in a new political environment. Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
Poll: California voters tepid on gig-work Prop. 22 -- California voters are tepid about Proposition 22, a statewide poll shows, despite a jaw-dropping $184.3 million poured into it by Uber, Lyft and other gig companies trying to keep their drivers and couriers as independent contractors. Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
Housing
Poll: Bay Area housing crisis is real, but solving it remains elusive -- Although the Covid-19 pandemic sidetracked state leaders from attacking the housing shortage, a new poll shows that Bay Area voters are still concerned the crisis is getting deeper. Louis Hansen in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/24/20
Street
‘A demon inside me’ -- At age 23, Will Andrews was adrift in San Francisco, homeless and addicted to powerful opioids. Like so many, he wanted a way out. But he couldn’t find one before tragedy struck. Trisha Thadani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
S.F. city attorney seeks to clean up Tenderloin drug dealing using a new approach. Will it work? -- San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera is using a novel legal approach to try to clean up open-air drug dealing on the Tenderloin’s sidewalks, suing 28 alleged dealers in a bid to impose civil fines and arrest if they so much as enter the neighborhood. Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
‘A wound that never closes’: Racism, police violence and the toll on Black mental health -- Ongoing police violence against Black men and women has inflamed racial tensions. A global pandemic has killed Black people in disproportionately high numbers. And these extraordinary traumas come to a community whose mental and physical health already suffer because of anti-Black sentiment. Darrell Smith and Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/24/20
Also . . .
San Diego start-up helps college students avoid crowds on campus amid pandemic -- As college students return to school amid the coronavirus, a San Diego start-up is helping them stay safe through technology that monitors crowds in real time in libraries, gyms and other high-traffic locations around campus. Mike Freeman in the San Diego UnionTribune$ -- 9/24/20
The battle against COVID-19’s increasing trash level -- Nearly every morning for the last 12 years, San Francisco native Eva Holman has walked Baker Beach and collected trash. Aaron Gilbreath Capitol Weekly -- 9/24/20
California Exodus: An online industry seizes COVID-19 to sell the Red State Dream -- What is changing quickly is how disillusioned California residents are coming together by the tens of thousands on Facebook, YouTube and elsewhere online, fueling a cottage industry of real estate agents, mortgage lenders and political advocates stoking social division to compete for a piece of the much–discussed California Exodus. Lauren Hepler CalMatters -- 9/24/20
Fox: Time to Get Back to a Better “California Adventure” -- Imagine a California theme park like Disney’s California Adventure based on the state’s current predicaments. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 9/24/20
Berkeley Native American site slated for homes named a key endangered historic place -- Native American groups fighting to block a housing development on the West Berkeley Ohlone shellmound won a victory Thursday when the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the site as one of the 11 “most endangered historic places” in the United States. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
California Policy & Politics Thursday Morning
Democrats worry Feinstein can’t handle Supreme Court battle -- As the Senate prepares for yet another brutal Supreme Court nomination fight, one particularly sensitive issue is creating apprehension among Democrats: what to do with 87-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. John Bresnahan and Marianne Levine Politico -- 9/24/20
Health officials eligible for state confidentiality progam -- Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday allowed health officials to hide their addresses under a California state program designed to protect people from harassment or violence. Newsom’s executive order permits the secretary of state to make the Safe at Home confidentiality p ogram available to local health officers and other public health officials. Associated Press -- 9/24/20
Can I keep my gas-powered car? What you need to know about Newsom’s climate change order -- Short answer: yes. The governor’s office said Wednesday that the order will not prevent Californians from owning gasoline-powered cars. But the state is encouraging consumers to make the switch, saying that the upfront cost of electric vehicles are projected to match that of gas-powered ones in a matter of years, and the maintenance is lower. Lara Korte in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/24/20
Let the bidding begin: San Diego looks to auction off San Diego’s electric and gas services -- Under an Invitation to Bid process outlined by Mayor Kevin Faulconer on Wednesday, it is hoped that multiple energy companies will compete with each other to win the city’s franchise agreement — that is, the right to supply gas and electric services within the city limits of San Diego. Rob Nikolewski in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 9/24/20
Skelton: It’s time for California to retrofit buildings for wildfires as it does for earthquakes -- California should put the same effort into preparing buildings to survive wildfires that it has retrofitting for earthquakes. That’s the view of UC Merced fire scientist Crystal Kolden, a former firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service. She makes sense. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/24/20
Hiltzik: The Supreme Court could kill protection for preexisting conditions. You should be terrified -- President Trump is putting out the word that he has a plan to protect Americans with preexisting medical conditions from losing their health coverage, especially if the Supreme Court invalidates the Affordable Care Act. Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/24/20
Democrats plan their revenge if GOP Senate confirms Trump pick for high court -- Democrats are feeling powerless about the Republican drive to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, and understandably so — there’s little that Democratic senators or their supporters can do to stop it. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
Street
‘These voices aren’t going to stop’: Hundreds in L.A. protest over Breonna Taylor case -- Several hundred people gathered Wednesday evening in downtown Los Angeles to demand the ouster of Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey, but the protest was turbocharged by an outpouring of anger that only one of three Louisville, Ky., police officers involved in the shooting of Breonna Taylor will face criminal charges — and none for killing her. Matthew Ormseth, Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/24/20
Bay Area protesters demand racial justice following Breonna Taylor grand jury decision -- Protesters gathered in San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland Wednesday night following a Kentucky grand jury’s decision not to charge any police officers with the shooting death of Breonna Taylor. Lauren Hernández, Michael Williams, Chase DiFeliciantonio and Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
Breonna Taylor: Bay Area protests follow grand jury’s decision not to charge officers in shooting death -- Hundreds of people gathered Wednesday evening in San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco to protest a Kentucky grand jury’s decision not to charge any police officers for their role in Breonna Taylor’s death in Louisville earlier this year. Jason Green, Aldo Toledo, Marisa Kendall in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/24/20
‘Change the laws!’: Celebrities rage over ‘insulting’ charge in Breonna Taylor case -- The Wednesday decision by a Kentucky grand jury to indict one of the three officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor was met with swift criticism among celebrities and activists. Nardine Saad in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/24/20
Fresno police auditor said he withheld report on alleged misconduct to avoid protest -- Fresno’s independent police reviewer for about four months sat on his report regarding accusations of police excessive force on a teenager, he recently told members of the city’s Commission on Police Reform. And he acknowledged doing so because he feared a backlash from the community. Thaddeus Miller in the Fresno Bee -- 9/24/20
LAPD says it has found no body-camera video in wounding of plaintiff in BLM protest lawsuit -- The Los Angeles Police Department’s investigation into a woman’s claim that her jaw was fractured by a police projectile during summer protests has so far turned up zero police video of the shooting — possibly because many of the officers at the scene weren’t wearing cameras, LAPD officials said Wednesday. Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/24/20
Man fatally shot during confrontation with deputies in San Clemente -- At about 1:12 pm, two Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputies with the city’s homeless outreach team were on patrol near the Hotel Miramar and attempted to make contact with a man described as homeless, the department said. Eric Licas, Erika I. Ritchie in the Orange County Register -- 9/24/20
Off-duty L.A. County deputy shoots man in parking lot after seeing him looking in cars, department says -- An off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy shot and wounded a man Wednesday evening after he allegedly moved toward the deputy and reached toward his waistband. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/24/20
San Marino man accused of driving into protesters allegedly sent arms to training camp for ‘civil disorders’ -- A San Marino man accused of intentionally driving a truck into a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters in Pasadena in May has been charged with conspiring to violate firearms laws, U.S. prosecutors announced Wednesday. Leila Miller in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/24/20
Virus
Young adults are now the largest group of Americans getting COVID-19, CDC says -- A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the median age of people with COVID-19 in the U.S. has declined over the spring and summer, with Americans in their 20s now accounting for more cases than people in any other age group. Karen Kaplan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/24/20
College openings fueled 3,000 COVID-19 cases per day, researchers say -- Researchers from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Indiana University, the University of Washington and Davidson College tracked cellphone data and matched it to reopening schedules at 1,400 schools, along with county infection rates. Michael McAuliff in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/24/20
With coronavirus transmissions increasing, LA County leery of reopening more sectors -- Los Angeles County public health officials presented data Wednesday, Sept. 23, showing that transmission rates were rising slightly and that while the county has done a great deal to bridge the racial and economic divides, the virus continued its disproportionate impacts. David Rosenfeld in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/24/20
500 dead from coronavirus in capital region, with Sacramento County on brink of 400 -- Sacramento County’s death toll increased to 399 in that morning’s data update. Another 101 have died among the three neighboring counties of Yolo (54), Placer (43) and El Dorado (four). Michael McGough in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/24/20
Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital workers say stronger COVID safeguards needed, call for wider testing -- Since early August, 26 employees and “fewer than five” patients have contracted COVID-19 at the hospital due to an outbreak of the virus in the general surgery area, hospital officials said. Julie Johnson in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 9/24/20
Presidio could lose another $17 million in 2021 due to coronavirus, managers say -- The Presidio Trust, which manages the popular national park in northwest San Francisco, expects to lose $17 million in 2021 because of the long-term impacts of the coronavirus — on top of $36 million in losses during the past six months. John King in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
‘The surface issue has essentially gone away’: Experts revise thinking on coronavirus transmission -- We know the coronavirus spreads through person-to-person contact when an infected person coughs, sneezes, speaks, sings, or even breathes. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
Virus Economy
Lights, camera, no action: Insurance woes beset California’s entertainment industry workers -- But when theaters, movies and TV shows stopped production, not only did Farber lose his acting income, he also stopped accruing the hours and earnings he needed to qualify for health insurance through his labor union, SAG-AFTRA. Michelle Andrews in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
Elections
California young voters far more likely to have mail ballots rejected, study finds -- California’s youngest voters are three times more likely to have their mail ballots rejected than voters as a whole, a new study has found, highlighting a problem that could grow as more of those inexperienced voters turn out in November. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
Reopen
Sacramento County agrees to allow nail salons to reopen for indoor business -- A day after California health officials OK’d nail salons to reopen for indoor service, Sacramento County followed suit, saying it has amended its COVID-19 ordinance as of 3 p.m. Wednesday to allow hundreds of local businesses to relaunch inside service. TonyBizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/24/20
‘We’re ready’: Frustrated Disneyland tells California Gov. Gavin Newsom it’s time to reopen -- For more than six months, California and COVID-19 have kept the keys to the Magic Kingdom. Now, the brass at Walt Disney Co.’s theme parks division have had enough. Darrell Smith in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/24/20
Workplace
Domestic workers ask governor to extend workplace protections -- Activists and domestic workers are asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a bill that would extend safe work requirements to 13 million California households employing domestic help such as housekeepers and gardeners. Jacqueline Garcia CalMatters -- 9/24/20
State Supreme Court rejects students’ bid to practice law without passing exam -- A petition by two recent graduates, signed by nearly 1,900 students, said an online exam using little-tested software would be unreliable and unfair to low-income and minority students who lacked equal access to computers and quiet space at home. The justices denied a hearing on their request without comment. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20
Wildfire
Bobcat fire leaves moonscape of crumbled rock, ash and dust -- Not yet accounted for, however, are 80 historic cabins and the separate 1893-built Sturtevant Camp, all of which are tucked deeper into the canyon. Built between 1907 and 1936, the cabins are part of a unique relationship between Angelenos and the national forest. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/24/20
Wildfires taint West Coast vineyards with taste of smoke -- Smoke from the West Coast wildfires has tainted grapes in some of the nation’s most celebrated wine regions with an ashy flavor that could spell disaster for the 2020 vintage. Andrew Selsky Associated Press -- 9/24/20
Yosemite to reopen Friday with more campsites open -- Yosemite National Park will reopen Friday, with scores of campsites available that have been closed all summer. The move, announced Wednesday, follows a Sept. 17 closure because of unhealthy air quality. Christopher Reynolds, Mary Forgione in the Los Angeles Times$ Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/24/20Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/24/20
Education
CSU Trustees endorse repeal of affirmative action ban -- California State University trustees voted Wednesday to join their counterparts in the University of California and California Community College systems in supporting the repeal of the state’s 24-year-old ban on considering race, gender and ethnicity in admissions and hiring decisions. Ashley A. Smith EdSource -- 9/24/20
Also . . .
Stockton poet Brandon Leake captures historic win on ‘America’s Got Talent’ finale -- Stockton spoken-word performer Brandon Leake was crowned the “America’s Got Talent” Season 15 winner during Wednesday’s live season finale, capping a historic run for the talented poet and Stockton native. Leake beat out nine finalists and walked away with a $1 million prize, a new car and headliner status for an “AGT” show in Las Vegas. Elizabeth Roberts in the Stockton Record -- 9/24/20
POTUS 45
Trump won’t commit to a ‘peaceful transfer of power’ if he loses -- President Trump refused Wednesday to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election, asserting that if he doesn’t win, it will be because of fraudulent mail-in voting and not because more Americans voted against him. Colby Itkowitz in the Washington Post$ -- 9/24/20
-- Wednesday Updates
Newsom orders 2035 phaseout of gas-powered vehicles, calls for fracking ban -- Emphasizing that California must stay at the forefront of the fight against climate change, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday issued an executive order to restrict new car sales in the state to only zero-emission vehicles by 2035 and threw his support behind a ban on the controversial use of hydraulic fracturing by oil companies. Phil Willon, Tony Barboza in the Los Angeles Times$ Lara Korte in the Sacramento Bee$ Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ Alexei Koseff and Dustin Gardiner in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Rachel Becker CalMatters Colby Bermel, Carla Marinucci and Alex Guillén Politico -- 9/23/20
Thought no one was answering calls at California’s EDD? You were nearly right, report says -- If you thought it was impossible to reach a human being about your California unemployment insurance claim in the last six months, you were nearly right, according to a recent report released by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration. Wes Venteicher in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/23/20
California house cleaners, nannies, caregivers could get new workplace protections -- House cleaners, nannies, caregivers and others who work inside private homes are not covered by state requirements to provide safe working environments. They could get new workplace protections from the state with SB1257, the Health and Safety for All Workers Act, which the Legislature passed last month. Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/23/20
Wildfire
Crews ‘turn a corner’ on Bobcat fire as containment doubles overnight -- After weeks of struggling to keep up with the fire’s erratic, multidirectional growth, crews had achieved 38% containment of the blaze as of Wednesday morning — more than doubling the fire’s containment from the previous day. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ Alma Fausto, Ruby Gonzales in the Los Angeles Daily News$-- 9/23/20
Bobcat fire investigation includes Southern California Edison equipment -- Federal officials are focusing on utility equipment around Cogswell Dam as part of their investigation into what sparked the massive Bobcat fire, according to paperwork filed with state utility regulators. Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/23/20
Fall in Southern California begins the race between rains and Santa Ana winds -- From now until the winter solstice in December, days will gradually get shorter and nights will get longer in the Northern Hemisphere. That’s good news and bad news for fire-scorched California. Paul Duginski in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/23/20
Elections
Nearly half of voters polled back Prop. 15, a property tax overhaul aimed at California businesses -- Nearly half of California voters in a new statewide poll support Proposition 15, a November ballot measure that would loosen tax limits on commercial and industrial properties and spend the resulting revenues on local governments and schools. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/23/20
Californians not sold on treating Uber, Lyft drivers as independent contractors, new poll shows -- Despite amassing the largest campaign war chest in California history, Uber, Lyft and other app-based companies are in danger of coming up short with voters on a ballot measure that would allow them to again classify their workers as independent contractors, a new statewide poll shows. Taryn Luna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/23/20
Breathe
‘These are hidden deaths.’ Over 1,000 likely died early due to California’s wildfire smoke -- Dense wildfire smoke that blanketed the state for weeks in August and early September — contributing to dangerous air quality from the San Francisco Bay area to Sacramento to Fresno and beyond — may have contributed to the deaths of hundreds of Californians and sent thousands more to the emergency room, Stanford University researchers say. Darrell Smith in the Sacramento Bee$ Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/23/20
Los Angeles hid a methane leak for a year. Activists want the power plant shut down -- Andres Ramirez doesn’t know who scrawled the words “SHUT DOWN THE PLANT” across a cinder-block wall outside Valley Generating Station, where red and white smokestacks tower over the northeast corner of the San Fernando Valley. Sammy Roth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/23/20
The luxury air business is booming — as many Californians struggle to breathe -- For buyers at the upper reaches of the real estate market, peace of mind can be purchased in the form of deluxe air filtration systems that keep the world at bay. Sam Dean in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/23/20
Education
Cal State gets its first chancellor of color: Fresno State president Joseph I. Castro -- Joseph I. Castro, the grandson of Mexican immigrants and a first-generation college student who rose during a career in higher education to lead Fresno State, has been named chancellor of the California State University system, trustees announced Wednesday. Nina Agrawal in the Los Angeles Times$ Ashleigh Panoo in the Sacramento Bee$ Nanette Asimov and Vanessa Arredondo in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Mikhail Zinshteyn and Felicia Mello CalMatters Ashley A. Smith EdSource-- 9/23/20
Elections
Falsehoods about sex-offender law hit the campaign trail -- For over a year a bill — signed into California law this month — that gives judges discretion over whether or not to require someone convicted of statutory rape to register as a sex offender, has been at the center of a storm of viral misinformation. Now it’s become an issue in a handful of congressional, legislative and municipal races across the state. Ben Christopher CalMatters -- 9/23/20
Virus
Bay Area must avoid ‘mistake’ of reopening too fast, health official warns -- A top Bay Area health official warned Tuesday against repeating the “mistake” of reopening too quickly, even as schools may welcome students back for in-person instruction and California’s positivity rate falls to its lowest point so far in the pandemic. Fiona Kelliher in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/23/20
Bay Area’s coronavirus numbers stabilize as U.S. death toll surpasses 200,000 -- The U.S. marked a bleak milestone Tuesday, surpassing 200,000 deaths attributed to the coronavirus. But as case counts rise in several states and fears mount over a coming surge, infection and mortality rates have leveled off in California and the Bay Area. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/23/20
Hit hard by COVID-19, a Sacramento ZIP code asks for help — and braces for a tough autumn -- Even as local health officials express cautious optimism about gradual declines in COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations, residents and advocates in some of Sacramento’s hardest hit neighborhoods are bracing for a potentially precarious fall and winter. Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks and Michael Finch II in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/23/20
Reopen
Sacramento County COVID-19 numbers are improving. Here’s when school campuses could reopen -- State health officials announced on Tuesday that Sacramento County has improved its COVID-19 infection status enough to possibly reopen school campuses for all grades by mid-October. Sawsan Morrar and Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/23/20
Schools in Santa Clara County can reopen for in-person classes today. So why aren’t they? -- But the vast majority of school districts across the county are not yet biting at the apple — opting instead to stay the course through the rest of the semester. “Our parents and students need some semblance of structure and consistency during these times,” Cupertino Union School District Superintendent Stacy McAfee-Yao said. Maggie Angst in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/23/20
Virus Workplace
Health officer who resigned in protest of Placer County COVID decision joins Yolo office -- Dr. Aimee Sisson, who resigned two weeks ago from her role as Placer County’s public health officer in protest of local leaders’ decision to no longer recognize COVID-19 as an emergency, has been named to the same position in nearby Yolo County. Michael McGough in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/23/20
Real Estate
There’s a pandemic, but Southern California home prices are at record levels -- The price leap may seem unlikely amid double-digit unemployment, but analysts say the trend reflects the uneven effect of the coronavirus and its economic fallout. Andrew Khouri in the Los Angeles Times$ Jeff Collins, Jonathan Lansner in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/23/20
Also . . .
Fox: California’s “Progressive Fiscal Values” -- In endorsing Proposition 15 that would raise property taxes on commercial property, Governor Gavin Newsom used an unusual turn of phrase when he said the measure was “consistent with California’s progressive fiscal values.” Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 9/23/20
Berkeley passes ordinance requiring healthy snacks at grocery checkout aisles -- Shoppers in Berkeley will soon see fewer junk food items on their way out of grocery stores now that the city council has passed an ordinance requiring grocers to offer healthy food and beverages in checkout aisles. Shwanika Narayan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/23/20
Tesla referral code for you to use -- john93948 to get 1000 free Supercharger miles.